


Inevitable

by Adaline



Category: Grand Theft Auto V
Genre: Crime, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, Ex-biker protagonist, F/M, Guns, Heists, I mean you've played the game you know all this stuff, Past mentions of rape of other character, Violence, slowish burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-05
Updated: 2017-05-05
Packaged: 2018-10-28 08:38:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10827720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Adaline/pseuds/Adaline
Summary: Ada was born into a biker gang, and a life of crime was afforded to her without question. For a few years, she liked it, she had a great talent for it, but a family betrayal sends her away from that life and to Los Santos, where she finds herself a fairly normal job and lives lawfully for a few years. It only takes her getting fired from that job to realise that you can't leave your nature behind, as hard as you might try.“I don’t know. If I’m gonna end up with tough and crazy, I want real tough and crazy.”





	1. Chapter 1

It took two months for the mystique of the FIB buildings to fade into aching mundanity. After two years, the painful greyness of it all was almost overwhelming. Ada had loved the click of her sensible heels on the perfectly polished floors childishly exciting at first, it made her feel like a real professional. Now, the smell of the air got up her nose, too sterile, too cold. Where her badge around her neck had been an object of pride, even if she was just a computer geek, it now felt weighty, and putting it over her head early in the morning was just another chore.   
  


The move from Colorado to Los Santos had not been as smooth as she’d hoped either. The city was another thing that had quickly worn out its welcome in her favour. She failed to be stunned by the huge buildings and bright lights anymore, and could only see the faces of every person that had tried to be friends with her just to network, and feel woefully unattractive next to all the beautiful, crafted at a knife’s edge people.   
  


As she stepped into the elevator, nodding at the security guard before pressing the 23rd floor button, she caught sight of herself in the mirror and almost sighed aloud. She looked as bored, tired, and overworked as she felt, all dark circles and roots in desperate need of dying.  
  


_‘I’m short and pale too.’_ She thought to herself, just to further depreciate her mood.  
  


Work was normal for the most part, mostly breaking down encryption, she never really knew what the end result was, she was only ever given the minimum information for her security clearance. For all she knew she could have been poking around in Putin’s porn collection.  
  


She had only been there an hour or so when she was called into the unit leader’s office.   
  


The unit leader was Steve Haines, and she had no doubt in her mind that he was one of the biggest dicks she had ever met in her life. A true, practiced, LS cunt. It was all she could do to smile at him and not comment on his fresh tan as she stepped into the office.   
  


“Ada, the prettiest dork in the building, how’s things?” He stretched out his arms when she entered the office, feet up on the desk.   
  


“Not bad sir, keeping busy.” She sat stiffly in the seat across from his desk, crossing her legs and glancing out of the window. His office was ridiculous, a huge room with floor to ceiling windows and the most pristine and stylish furniture in the building. It was much like a lot of the higher ups offices, with the exception of the practice golf mat (obnoxious), and the large framed posters from his TV show, mostly featuring him looking piercingly into the camera, covering the walls, (holy fucking shit levels of narcissism).   
  
“Great! Okay, I’ll cut to the chase sweetheart… We gotta let you go.” He was looking up at the ceiling casually.  
  


Ada actually felt the colour fall from her cheeks and her stomach drop into her shoes.    
  


“I -but- why?”  _‘Stop stuttering idiot, get yourself together.’  
  
_

“Well, we did a little more digging into your past, and it turns out you have a criminal record there toots, now,” he laughed a bit, straightening up in his chair, “this really caught me by surprise because if anybody doesn’t look like the type it’s definitely this cute little blondie in front of me.”   
  


Ignoring the frequent pet names that irritated her, she swallowed deep and tried to keep her voice straight.

  
“I’m aware but I was fully checked before I came here and I was assured that my expertise outweighed,” she could see he was barely listening to her and her voice hardened, “a couple of immature indiscretions.”

  
“Look, it’s not my choice here, Eva, it’s coming from above. We’re having to cut back-“  
  


“Ada.” She cut him off before she could stop herself, rapidly turning from upset to angry.   


  
“What?” He frowned, finally seeming to be paying attention.

  
“Ada my name’s Ada not Eva. I’m sorry I cut you off, you were just telling me that I don’t have a job anymore because of my record and you need to make cut backs even thought I’m better at this than anybody here and I’ve killed myself to keep this job for the last two years.” She could feel her temper getting out of her hands, buzzing through her skin, but the ball had already been kicked down the hill, there was no getting it back.  
  


“Ada-“   
  


“Not to mention the fact that I moved here to this fucking shithole for this job, this _bleached_ shithole that’s always the same temperature, and nobody has a normal conversation and you can’t-“  
  


“Ada!”   
  


The train had fully left the station, there was no bringing her back when she started, especially when she found herself on her feet and pacing around.   
  


“I’m gonna lose my fucking house, I’m gonna have to move back home… my family…” Her pulse hammered in her neck, it had been years since she had let her temper go like this.   
  


“You’re taking this too hard.” he still had that casual look and tone that was beginning to drive her crazy.   
  


“Oh _fuck you,_ Haines! With your fucking stupid hair and your giant ego!” That wiped the look off his face. “I mean christ you have posters of yourself all over this office. Do you have one above your bed too so you can beat off in front of your own face?”  
  


“Okay. You’re done.” He said firmly, standing up. “You’re not a nice enough piece of ass for me to take this shit from you. It’d be funny if it weren’t so pathetic.” He picked up his phone and called security.

  
Ada’s fists curled into balls and she could feel her pulse thumping in her neck harder, she could hear her blood rushing in her ears. The image of herself scanning liquor in a 7/11 in her hometown came to mind and she could have thrown up. ‘ _Punch his face, knock him the fuck out. Stomp on his dick and spit in his face.’_  
  


She had to walk away from him to the other side of her room, instead taking out her aggression on the big photo of his face by first hitting the glass so it cracked round her fist and cut her skin. When that wasn’t enough, she pried the thing from the wall and threw it to the ground, so she could stomp it destroyed.   
  


Everything after that was a blur. Getting dragged out of the building by security in front of her colleagues, being driven home in her own car and being told she was lucky Haines wasn’t pressing charges, everything up to sitting at her kitchen table, and finding herself jobless and alone.  
  


 

As the months passed, it turned out she had been right about losing her house, she could not find work for the life of her and ended up searching for houses on her laptop in the Bilingsgate Motel, and was sure she was the only resident not there to have an affair or fuck a prostitute.   
  


“Welcome to Sandy Shores, budget sea front living for the whole family…” She read aloud, absently chewing on the cheeseburger she had picked up. When she clicked on the link she snorted to herself. A trailer park. They hadn’t even been able to take a picture of one decent looking interior. “Christ I’m not there yet, am I?”    
  


The prices were dirt cheap, and as she blew through the last of her funds dirt cheap was about all she could afford. It would surely do temporarily while she got back on her feet, found some money, somehow.   
  


_‘Might be kind of romantic… scenic… yeah, let’s go with that.’_

  
She bit her thumbnail while she clicked through the images. There were a couple that weren’t so bad, and the idea of getting to somewhere that felt different to Los Santos wasn’t a terrible one. Taking a deep breath, she booked the viewing, with her mother’s voice in her head telling just repeating, “told you, can’t run away from who you really are.”

  
Her phone buzzed on the chipped wooden table and broke her from her reverie. She answered it with a frown, it was Shane from the FIB, an IT guy she hadn’t heard from in a while and was pretty sure had liked her at some point.  
  


“Hey, didn’t expect to see your name come up.” She said, picking a tomato off her burger and taking another small bite.

  
“Yeah sorry for not calling,” he said guiltily, “work’s been crazy.”  
  


“Uh-huh,” she did not really want to think about it, “so, to what do I owe the pleasure?”   
  


“Well uh, I was wondering if you were still looking for work. I heard you were living out of a motel.”   
  


“Temporarily.” She said with an edge of defensiveness.

  
“That really sucks.” He said, and she made a face to herself.  
  


“Yeah? It does? Sorry, but did you call me for a reason or just to remind me how much my life sucks right now?” She snapped.   
  


“No, no, I have a reason.” He said hastily. “Look, I hope I can tell you this in confidence ‘cause we were friends.” He took a breath and spoke lowly. “There’s this website in the deep web-“   
  


“Oh Jesus what the fuck are you about to tell me?” She recoiled.   
  


“God just listen, okay? There’s this website you can only access if you know how to get there, and they put up advertisements for all different kinds of work, okay? Very, very lucrative work for people with very specific skills.”   
  


Ada took a breath, surprised she was hearing this from him.   
  


“Specific skills like doling out Colombian neckties for the right price?” Her eyebrows raised.   
  


“Yes, sometimes,  _or_ the ability to break down the toughest kinds of encryption and hack pretty much anything.” He said quickly. “Look if you’re not interested just hang up on me right now, I’ve never done this shit by the way, I just know about it. I hate to see you struggle, Ada, okay? Haines was the biggest dick you should not have been the one to go.”  
  


She smiled slightly, he was the first person to comfort her.   
  


“You want me to send you over the info securely?”    
  


“Yes.” She said immediately. “Thank you.”   
  


Fuck the trailer park. That was not going to happen.   
  


Her mind was racing as she tapped her fingers on the table and waited for the information from him. He got it to her quite quickly and she immediately got to work cracking into the site, not willing to stop and think about it for longer than she absolutely had to.   
  


_‘Thought I left Colorado to get away from all this illegal shit.’_ She physically winced at her own thoughts as she continued to work. _‘Just like my family, just missing the tattoos and the shotgun. Daddy would be proud.’  
  
_

She ran her fingers through her dry hair when she found the site. It was like any other job website, it was almost laughably ridiculous. She ticked her skills, ticked what she was and was not willing to do, not focussing too hard on the boxes like ‘wet work’ and the like.   
  


The buzz of trepidation was melting into something else, as the results came up, and the details of the payouts, she started to feel excited, like she sometimes did back home when she worked for the family business. One particularly caught her eye, the pay was incredible, and would come through steadily rather than in one go so she wouldn’t have to worry about laundering it herself. The details were much more cryptic, and it took her a while to get in contact with the guy, ‘L’ to arrange a meetup.    
  


_‘Christ, let this work out.’_


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we see a little of Ada's past back home.

Ada rationalised the illegal shit she was probably about to do like this: she would not be directly responsible for anyone getting hurt, anyone in a desperate situation would do the same, and better her than someone less scrupulous and more dumb. She got her makeup on and tied up her hair in the motel room, finishing off her outfit with the trusty leather jacket that hung on the back of the door, even LS got rainy and chilly in November at times. Ada was glad for it. 

She text L’s number the description of herself he’d told her to give, and drove to the location on the pier. The clandestine stuff was foreign to her personally, but it was so FIB style. For a minute, it occurred to her that this could be one huge set up, that for some reason Shane hated her and wanted to see her busted.  
  
It was too late to back out though, as it began to drizzle, a chubby, bespectacled guy hobbled over on his walking stick and sat on the bench beside her. Not what she had been expecting, not intimidating at all, but he was acting conspicuously casual and she could tell he was eyeing her out of the corner of his eye.

“You Nancy?” He asked, voice nasal, looking ahead a the stationary fairground ride. People were starting to vacate the fair, put off by the ominous looking clouds that loomed over.

“Uh, yeah… That’s what I called myself on the site anyway.”

“Well I’m Lester, real name.” He said and turned to look at her properly, obviously figuring it was safe.

“Ada.” She said, holding her hand out for him to shake, which he did. 

“I know, when you told me you had experienced working for the FIB up until recently I checked out records of everyone who had quit or been fired in the past year, you fit the bill. Have to say you’re not what I expected.”  
  
“Oh?” She tried not to sound disappointed, if this guy was temperamental she could lose out on the job.

“Yeah, most hacker types have a look. You know, movie t-shirt, hoodie, bad skin, too much eye makeup in the case of the ladies.” He shrugged. “You… don’t look like that.”

“Is that a compliment or an insult?” She couldn’t help but chuckle a bit.

“Compliment, definitely a compliment.” He scratched the back of his head. “Now, I’ve got to tell you that the job you’ve put yourself up for could be pretty dangerous, if we go with our plan, there shouldn’t be much heat, but it’s always a possibility. You said you had some experience dealing with unwanted attention from the police, care to elaborate?”

“Uh, no… but you’re good at finding out about people I’m sure you can find out for yourself.” She crossed her arms, but she didn’t feel bitter, she would be just as careful in his situation. “Just trust me, okay? I can handle cops.”

“Well that’s more than can be said for most computer experts. Now, the job: it’s a fairly basic jewellery store score, I’ll send you my address with the plans are finalised, but as it stands, I’ll need you to block the alarm system for as long as you can.”

“I’ll need all the details, but that sounds like something I can do.” She said, sure it would actually be quite easy. She shuffled slightly, eager to get her big question. “You said the pay would be good…”

  
“Oh, yes, of course. If all goes to plan, I can get around $3,000 $4,000 a week into your account over the course of a year. That’s the safest way to do it, securely, so you won’t have the feds sniffing round.” He said matter-of-factly.

_‘That’s $200k for one job. $200k. $200,000. Two-hundred-thousand goddamn dollars.’_

“Fuck me backwards…” She breathed looking somewhere off in the distance and seeing a huge pile of green cash. He laughed at her outburst and she snapped back to reality.

“Yeah, it’s a lot of money.”

“Christ and I’m only the hacker, you guys must be making a goddamn bomb.” She tapped her jacket pocket. Ada caught herself doing that a lot in the years since she stopped smoking, looking fir the phantom pack. Lester didn’t seem to notice. 

“Yes, well, I’ll contact you with the address nearer the time.” 

“Great.” She said, and they both stood. “Was nice to meet you Lester.” Ada began to walk away, heading to the railing of the pier as he limped back to his car.

“Same here.”

The drizzle was about to turn to proper rain, she could smell it in the air, and the clouds cast a dark shadow over the city. She leaned her elbows on the rail and looked over into the water, taking a breath. Anyone else would have felt more nervous right now, she kind of wished she did. _That_ would have been the normal reaction to agreeing to illegal activity. But her first day at the FIB had made her more nervous.

_‘Because pencil skirts and security badges aren’t me, this is. I know this world, it’s the only thing that keeps coming back.’_

Sighing and touching her lips, she wished she had a cigarette between her fingers, or a joint, or fuck, a piece of candy, something to ground her to reality and stop the self-analysation. 

* * *

**5 Years Earlier - Niwot, Colorado**

She didn’t even notice the smell of leather anymore, it was one of those scents that took her immediately back to childhood when it did hit her, but she was so used to it, having every person in her life constantly clad in some kind of jacket or sleeveless vest. Leaning against The Raiders bar, (the emblem of the cracked skull with the bandana on its face adorning almost every wall in some form), the scent of alcohol overpowered her, and the jukebox thumped old rock tunes, as always.

“Ada, Ada, Ada, damn darlin’,” a group of guys, two around her age, and two friends of her dad boxed her in around the bar, she’d known them since childhood, “you just get better each time I see ya.” 

“She’s blossomed into a real little lady.” One of the older ones, Lockjaw, got hold of a handful of her ass. “Getting even thicker than her momma.” 

Rolling her eyes, she smacked his hand away, and turned back to face the bar.

“Another Jack and coke please, sweetheart.” She smiled at the young barmaid, who was doe-eying the guys, hoping to catch some attention.

“How old are you now, 20?” A young one, Chip leaned on the bar beside her. 

“That’s right.” She said with faux enthusiasm, refusing to meet his eye as she calmly waited for her drink. If there was anything she knew in the world, it was that in that bar, she was in no danger of anything going further than she let it. 

“Fuck, I remember when it was your sweet sixteen.” Said Lockjaw. “Back when you decided you were a blonde at heart.” One of them, she wasn’t sure which, twirled a lock of her hair round his finger and let it go. “Suits you, baby.”

The barmaid slid her drink into her hand, and she turned back to the men.

“You guys been to a strip club or something? All horned up and not sure what to do with it?” She looked between them, none of them had any remote chance at what they were trying. “”Cause this is a lot boys, even for you.”

“We were just talking about the job you pulled out in Lafayette, that was some impressive stuff there. Your daddy really raised you right.” The other older one, Chipper spoke up, leaning forward into her personal space.

“Uh-huh?” She crossed her arms with mock contemplation. “And what would my _daddy_ say to a couple of his oldest friends creeping on his little girl, you fat sack of shit?” 

She heard the barmaid’s little gasp behind her, and she smirked at Chipper’s somewhat taken aback expression, the other men laughed, but it was enough to make them back off.

“I ain’t ever heard a girl talk to the guys like that.” The barmaid said quietly, as though scandalised. “They don’t usually take lip lightly.”

“What’s your name, hun?”

“Jen.”

“Jen, the men in this bar run guns, wear scary leather jackets and big old tattoos, and they go out and sit on their big, fat motorcycles, and hope it all makes there dicks and their masculinity a little bigger and better.” She took a sip. “Don’t let it fool you.”

“But don’t you want to be someone’s old lady? I know your dad’s the boss but you gotta get with one of the guys to keep the family together, right?”

“No. I fucking don’t.” She said a little more harshly than she had meant, and saw the flicker of trepidation in Jen’s face. “Sorry, I’m not attacking you, I can see the attraction, okay? I know you want to get one of them, and I’m sure you will. But it just isn’t me, y’know? Even the hot ones are all bravado and no substance.”

“What kind of man do you want then?” Jen leaned on the counter, raising her eyebrow rather playfully. 

Ada laughed. “I don’t know. If I’m gonna end up with tough and crazy, I want _real_ tough and crazy.” 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're gonna see the first in-game heist here. Since the story is lining up with the game's narrative, you are going to read things you've played before, but I'm going to avoid just typing out a walkthrough to the game, because what's the point of that?

After half an hour in the room of the garment factory listening to Michael de Santa talk, she still couldn’t decide if she liked him. On the one hand she admired his planning skills, he had clearly been around the block a few times and knew what he was doing, and it put her at ease that he was confident in his scheme. On the other hand though, he had a kind of Vinewood cockiness that had never stopped annoying her no matter how many she came across with it. He’d also given her a good look up and down when they met, undercutting that phoney polished charm he put on.  


Franklin at least seemed cool, there wasn’t a lot of affectation in him, which she liked, but burning ambition in young men wasn’t something she could be too quick to trust.  


“So, our second guy on the bike is Norm Richards, he recommended the Ducati’s for the getaway through the sewers.” Lester relayed.  


“Pfft.” Ada actually scoffed, receiving looks from the two men in the room. She looked at them slightly in surprise at herself for not showing more restraint. “Sorry guys, but that guy doesn’t know what he’s talking about. For the kind of speeds you’re wanting and the varying terrain, you want something like an Endura CT89, it won’t skid in water, and it won’t drag on the tarmac.”  


It came out of her mouth like a chant, like words to a song she didn’t know she remembered until she was singing it. She didn’t miss the surprised quiet from the three men in the room, and she fronted them up.

“What?” She said like she didn’t know.

“Damn, girl, you got some motocross obsession or somethin’?” Franklin said.

“You know bikes?” Michael asked, more to the point. Ada breathed through her nose, knowing this was self-sabotage of the highest degree. She wasn’t about to lie to these guys, and she wanted the heist to go well as much as they did.

“Yeah I know bikes.” She admitted.

“You know how to ride one good? ‘Cause, if you can do what you need to do on your laptop before we break into the bank you could be the third bagman- girl-woman…” Michael said, tapping the picture of her on the corkboard with his knuckle. 

“Hang on a minute Michael.” Lester said. “Just because she can hack and ride a bike doesn’t meanshe can smash and grab. That wasn’t what she signed up for.”

_‘Huh, clearly he hasn’t done more research on my past.’_

“Shit, anyone can smash and grab, the name’s in the fuckin’ title.” Michael waved his hand.

“Hey, why don’t we ask her, since she’s ya’know, in the room?” Franklin piped up, and Ada sent him a little smile of thanks.

The were again looking to her expectantly.   
  
“I can do it.” She said. “But I want an extra 3%.”

“Done,” Michael said clapping his hands together, “two-for-one deal with her Lester, good call.” 

“Okay, okay,” Lester said, waving his hand as he adjusted the plans on the board accordingly, “you have a preferred weapon, just in case?”

“Shotgun.” She said, again, on autopilot. 

“Sure you can handle the recoil on a shotgun?” Michael asked, and she looked up at him with a blank expression, clearly vaguely annoyed by the question.

“Pretty damn sure.” She said, biting back a smirk.

“Okay, then, so we’ll get moving tomorrow, as planned.” Michael said, finishing the meeting.   
Kate stood up and gathered her bag, nodding at the men before she headed outside. She was in for a walk home, her car had refused to start on her that morning and was sitting in Los Santos Customs getting fixed.

“Hey, you need a ride? Don’t see your car around.” Michael had emerged from the building behind her, putting on his sunglasses. She considered him for a moment, putting her hands in her pockets before nodding. She was never one to pass up a ride.

“Yeah that’d be great actually, thanks.” She said, and followed him to his. The car was a shiny black Obey Tailgater, and very much went with his neat day suit and designer sunglasses. Ada couldn’t help but wonder why he was pulling a robbery job, he didn’t look like he needed the money. 

_‘Rich people always have the worst debt.’_

It smelled like new car when she got in, the interior was pristine; it was either a brand new car or he didn’t get out much. They pulled away from the building and Ada checked her phone. Even after a good few years, she still half expected to see a text from her mom or one of her brother’s, or even Jen when she opened it. Never. Just a text from her old landlord chasing her for the final rent and an email from Ammunation that they had an offer on .44’s. 

“So, what’s your story?” He asked, awkwardly trying to make conversation. “You do this kind of thing often?”

“Get into cars with strange men?” She joked. “No, not too often.”

He laughed which eased her a little.

“Well, good. But I meant the whole, shall we say, making money dishonourably thing.” Michael asked, swerving round a car that he obviously decided was taking too long at a top sign.

“I’ve been trying not to the last few years, I don’t know if Lester told you I used to work for the FIB.”

“Yeah, he told me.”

“Well, yeah, I worked for them for a few years, didn’t get so much as a speeding ticket in that time.” She said, looking out of her window as the city passed by. 

“Uh-huh. That’s the past few years, you seem a little too comfortable with this whole situation to be brand new to the life.” He said, accurate sniffing her out. Ada chewed the inside of her mouth, debating whether or not she could just tell him. “Hey, last person you’re gonna get judgement from is me.”

She looked at him a sighed.

“I grew up in a biker gang, so I was like, automatically a member. When I hit sixteen I started to have to pull my weight, do odd jobs.” 

“Like riding getaway bikes?” He suggested.

Ada chuckled. “Yeah, that kind of thing.”

“Huh,” he said like he was surprised, and looked over at her, “yeah I guess I can kind of see you as a biker, if you get a couple of tattoos or something.”

“Thanks?” She shrugged, smiling a bit.

They drove a bit further, she directed him to her motel. It was actually surprisingly comfortable after ten minutes or so, which she always saw as a good sign for someone she would have to pull a job with. There was nothing worse than someone who affected a solemn seriousness to seem tough, it made communication harder.

“So where does the computer thing come from? Never seen any Lost MC who looked like they had two brain cells to rub together.” 

She hoped he didn’t notice her body tense slightly at the mention of the Lost.

“Y’know, I know bikers may seem like dummies, and a lot of them are, but you can’t be a total bunch of idiots and pull the kind of jobs the Lost do, or that my crew did.” Ada said. “I just kind of took an interest in computers when I was younger, disabling alarm systems and security feeds for the club and whatnot. Turns out I have an aptitude for it.” 

“How come you left?” He asked. Michael could obviously tell that had been one question two far with the way her face turned stony and she crossed her arms.

“Gonna have to plead the fifth on that for now.” She said and pursed her lips.

“Sorry, sorry.” He said, pulling into the parking lot of the motel.

“It’s cool, Michael.” She unbuckled herself. “Thanks for the ride.”

“Yeah, I’ll be seein’ ya.” They shook hands before she got out and headed to her room. 

Inside, that familiar musty hotel smell she hadn’t been able to get rid of hit her and she let out a sigh as she dropped her keys on the table. The sooner she was out of the place the better.

 

* * *

 

**5 Years Earlier - Niwot, Colorado**

Ada adjusted the earpiece in her ear, and shifted so a rock in the ground wasn’t digging in her stomach. From her position on the peak of the sandy bluff, she could see miles of road stretching into the distance. She straightened the sniper rifle in her hands and checked the sights, everything was in place.

“You there Bullseye?” Her dad’s voice asked in her ear.

“In position.” She confirmed.

“Okay, convoy should be coming down the road any minute now. Target is on a Harley Davidson, gold, the prick, and we know he usually rides second from the front. Soon as you’ve clipped him get straight back to the clubhouse, they’ll be able to tell where the shot came from.”

“Got it, Pop.” She replied, looking through the sights again. 

The group came over the horizon as expected, and eventually the sound of the purring bikes reached her ears as it echoed round the vast empty space. She took a breath and watched them through this sights, finding the target.

“Fuck, there’s two on gold.” She said urgently. 

“Only one of ‘em’s Mantooth, kid, make a call, you’ve met the guy.” He gruffly replied.

She swore again, trying to make him out, but the situation proving very difficult given that they both wore bandanas over their mouths. 

_‘Well, we did want to send a message.’_

Bracing herself and taking another breath, she fired the first shot, effectively getting the guy between the helmet and bandana, she then shifted her sights to the other on the gold Harley and offed him too. The bikes both spun off, and it took a minute for the rest of the group to figure out what had happened. 

Quickly as she could, sweating slightly, she dismantled the rifle and slung it in her bag, having practiced the action countless times at home. Slinging it on her back she mounted her bike and put on her helmet, before she revved it up speeding down the hill as quickly as she could. She heard a loud curse in her ear. 

“Two shots!? You losing your edge or did you just clip two of their guys?” He yelled and she winced as she navigated the dirt hill.

“There was no telling which one it us, this was us sending a message right? They kill one of ours, we kill two of theirs.”

“One of the ones you clipped _didn’t_ kill one of our guys, for fuck’s sakes!”

“Who the fuck cares? It’s their crew, that’s how this shit fucking works!” She now met the road and kept her eyes open for any of the crew following her.

“Don’t you dare try and tell me how this shit fucking works, kid, Jesus!”   
  
Ada heard a crackle as he evidently threw down his mic, and she leaned forward on the bike and sped faster. 

Back at the clubhouse, she didn’t miss the looks she was getting from the men as she passed through the main bar to the meeting room. Her dad, her brothers and the other six top men from the club sat round the table, and got up to leave when she arrived.

“Good job, Bullseye.” Lockjaw said when she got in and sat herself in her place at her dad’s right. She got another couple of ‘good job’s’ and what not from the rest of the me as they left, but there were a couple of glances to her dad, who was stony faced.

Her brother Jack gave her small smile as he left the room, which she returned. They were clearly all anticipating her dressing down.

“We gotta talk about this.” Her dad said when the door closed. “You went against my instructions. That doesn’t look good.

“It was either kill both of them or neither of them.” She said, crossing her arms. Though she was no where near are deferential to him as the rest of the men, she still had a fair amount of innate dread at his low tone and his intolerance for being ignored.

“Then you should have at least asked, kid. I’m still the head of this club.” He pointed with his thumb to his chest. 

“I know.” She said with a nod, looking at her hands. 

He let out a long breath out of his nose.

“The thing that’s bugging me most about this is that you didn’t think twice about it. Should I be worried about how okay you are with clipping a guy that might not have deserved it?” He asked, looking her in the eye. Ada felt a little nauseous at the question, the thought haven’t having occurred to her.

“No, pop… No.” 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trevor time! 
> 
> Diverted from the video game version of the heist and put Franklin as the third gunman in the bank so I could have Ada as the driver. Cool? Cool
> 
> Oh also, just so you know, when I’m picturing Trevor and everyone in the game in my head, I’m picturing the actors? It’s cool if you picture the exact in game versions of course but if the description seems a bit off to you it’s because I might be visualising something slightly different.
> 
> Anyway, let’s get on with it.

**** There was a moment when she sped through the sewers, bag full of jewellery in her saddle bag and water flicking up to her boots that Ada actually laughed out loud. The heist had gone perfectly, she had given them a good two minutes of delayed alarm time and they’d got hold of pretty much every piece in the store. She could see herself at her desk at the FIB, taking Haines’ condescension and sitting bored out of her mind, and she laughed, because how could she ever think that she wanted to do anything else.

_‘I’m made for this. This is what I’m good at.’_

It was surprising to her how easy it had been to get back into it, and the satisfaction of the gain being for herself and not the club. Checking her account and seeing $400,000 extra was probably one of the most satisfying moments of her life. Around half went on a nice apartment on Alta street, and a little more on a new Jeep. She wasn’t a flashy person, but being out of that motel and crappy car was very relieving. 

She sat in her new apartment on the floor by the floor to ceiling window, legs crossed and munching on a bowl of cereal as she looked out over the city. God Los Santos looked pretty from higher up, Ada could almost remember what attracted her to it as she watched the steady stream traffic below and waved pointlessly and helicopters that got quite close.  
  
For the first time in a while, she was actually calm. 

Calm, and bored, very bored.

It had been a good few weeks since the jewellery store, and since doing shots with Franklin at a bar to celebrate, which had been an entertaining departure from her normal routine she had to admit, but as expected, she hadn’t heard from any of them for weeks. 

She stood, adjusting her silk dressing gown on her shoulders and getting her phone from the coffee table. The whole apartment was sleek, it came pre-furnished and was all shiny white and polished wood. 

It occurred to her for a second that Lester might use burner cells before she called, but to her luck he answered.  
  
“Ada, hadn’t expected to hear from you again.” He said, sounding pleased it was her. 

“Hey man.” She said, flopping down on her couch. “You haven’t got any work for me, have you?”

“Don’t tell me you’ve blown through your cut already.” He said, mock scoldingly.

“Uh, yeah, the Lamborghini really tipped me over.” She joked, switching on her TV. “No I’m just kinda twiddling my thumbs here, need something to do. More money never hurts.” 

“Very true. You’re actually in luck, got another job with Michael coming up if you’re interested.”

“Jewellery store?” She asked, stopping on Weasel News and a story about a cargo plane going down over the ocean. 

“Not this time. A bank up in the sticks, Paleto Bay.”

“Oh yeah, I know the place.”

“Well we have a contact up there that knows that the local law enforcement up there is a shady bunch, and that’s where they keep their extortion money. We’re talking a few million.” He said.

“Shit. I thought it was just rinky dink trailer park crime up there.”

“Yeah, along with weed farms and meth labs.”

She laughed. “Sounds like home.”   
  
“I bet it does.” He replied with an edge of smugness, and she shook her head. It took a moment for it to click what he meant by his response, but it occurred to her.

“So, you’ve finally done your research on me.” She said with a little smile, knowing it was coming.

“Sure have, Raider. Have to say I underestimated you, never saw you as the gang type.”

“Yeah, well, I’d never assume _you_ were the criminal type either, buddy.”

“Don’t worry too much, you’re still fairly mysterious, I could only find your police records and a little other info. From that it looks like you were only arrested for bar fights and other petty stuff. Which means you were either small time only, or you managed not to get caught doing bigger stuff.”

“Hmm.” She said pensively, heading to the kitchen to switch on the coffee machine. “And which one do you think it is?”

“Well, considering how you handled the shotgun and the getaway bike, and the fact that you were on the top of your father’s Known Associates list, I’d say the latter.” He said, and the mention of her father made her wince slightly. 

“You’re a smart fella.” She said with mock reverence.

“Yeah yeah,” He brushed off, “Now, back to this job. Can you get up to Blaine County on Tuesday?”

Ada could, and she was positively buzzing like a kid on Christmas when the day came around. The couple of days of sitting around her apartment day drinking and playing video games had her feeling like a caged dog. It didn’t particularly matter to her that most of the cut was going to the FIB, (which Lester told her was better she didn’t know much about,) she just needed to be busy. The drive up was even a nice relief, particularly as she got further and further down the freeway and out of the city.

_‘Shit, why did I never consider coming up here?’_ She thought, as she began to enter desert territory.It was almost freaky how much the busted neon signs for bars that had long since closed down and worn old posters for high interest loans reminded her of home, and felt like it too. 

_‘Jesus, ma would be so satisfied if she knew I’m actually reminiscing about Niwot.’_

She was glad for her choice of vehicle as she got further towards her destination, occasionally having to turn down a dirt road to expedite the journey. For a good half hour, she found herself listening to Blaine County Radio Community Hour, and the ramblings of a local who just seemed to spout nonsensical conspiracy theories for his entire slot. It made her laugh out loud to the point she thought she’d have to pull over a couple of times.

Down the road, she spotted the sign for ‘Liquor Ace’ and pouted in disappointment that she’d arrived so soon. 

“Well no-one is going to harvest ME, I’m beyond harvesting-“ She unfortunately had to shut the radio off at that point as she pulled in and looked up at the place.

_‘Yep, that’s a meth lab if I ever fuckin’ saw one.’_

Straightening her jacket, she headed in the front door, and her suspicion was confirmed. The downstairs smell of liquor in the main part of the store was faint in comparison to the sickly scent of chemicals that seeped through the ceiling. Lester had told her to head upstairs, and she did so, the sound of two male voices yelling leading her way.

“You’re not making my situation any easier!” She heard Michael yell at the top of his voice as she stepped over a soggy mattress and skirted a leaky can of turpentine.

“Ohhhh! There’s a surprise! I knew it would become about you!” Another rougher voice replied.

“I miss my family!”

“Oh _bullshit_! All you ever did was ignore ‘em, and now they’re gone, you miss ‘em! Fuckin’ incredible!”

Ada wondered for a minute if tempers were so high she ought to get ready to pull her piece in case anyone was feeling too jumpy. The upper floor was kind of like a maze, but she thought she was heading the right way.

“Fuckin’ incredible! You motherf-“

“HEY! ENOUGH!” She heard Franklin yell, right as she approached the open door to the room, behind the only person there she hadn’t met before. “You got me out here! You roped me into this crazy world of bullshit! If it was lies, New Age shit, and arguments about how life used to be, I could have stayed my ass in Los Santos.” 

“Hello, Franklin.” Lester said with a cheeriness that made Ada snort. 

“Yeah, hi boys.” She smiled, at all of them seemed to notice her at that point, leaning on the doorframe. “You guys are way too easy to sneak up on.” Not least the man closest to her, the one that had been yelling, who was now staring with surprise and interest. Hard.

“Wassup, A.” Franklin said with a nod.

“Hey A, sorry about that little-“ Michael started.

“Friendly disagreement.” Lester finished for him, and Michael nodded.

“Yeah, yeah. Let’s go with that, why the fuck not?” He took a breath and sat down, still slightly steaming at whatever their fight had been about.

It didn’t escape Ada’s notice that she was still being stared at like she’d grown a second head, and so she did what she’d been taught to do in that situation and looked right back.  
  
“Can I help you there, buddy?” She asked, raising her eyebrow.  
  
“Most definitely.” He replied, quietly this time, voice low and rough. 

“Oh Jesus,” Michael mumbled, “Trevor, this is Ada, Ada, Trevor. She’s our driver, well, sailor.’’ He introduced them.

She reflexively stuck out her hand to shake, and he looked at it for a second, before sidling over lazily and taking it, quite shamelessly looking her up and down as he did so. Ada decided to do the same, taking in his scruffy plaid shirt, complete with pit stains, and torn up jeans that didn’t look like they were just styled that way. He was much taller than her, but she could still see that he was balding quite badly, and he wore his greying facial hair with stubble and a moustache. 

“ _You’re_ our driver sweetheart?” He asked in a low voice, stepping too close, not having released her hand from his calloused one. “Did you have to call in sick to school?” 

“Christ, T-“ Michael piped up, but Ada laughed, wrenching her hand from his and putting it in her pocket, not backing off as she looked up at him.

“Yeah, I did actually. Did you get day leave from the nursing home?” She asked, cocking her head to the side. Michael and Franklin laughed, and for a moment she couldn’t discern if Trevor was remotely amused or supremely angry. His eyes searched hers for a minute, as if waiting for her to look down at the ground, before he quickly turned away.

“You meet her at a fucking smartass convention, huh, Mikey?” He said irately, back to her as he started to pace. She rolled her eyes, he was definitely not the first wired guy she had met, and the track marks on his forearm told her exactly why. She moved away from his path and sat on Lester’s table, legs crossed.

“Shut it, T. Come on, let’s change clothes and load up the car. You all set with the boat?” He asked Ada.

“Thing’s fast and built solid.” She confirmed.

“Excellent. Then we’re gonna do this thing.” Michael said firmly. “Any questions, comments?”

Trevor raised his hand, still pacing like he couldn’t stand still. 

“Yeah… I miss Brad, and if that crazy motherfucker were with us now, he would have loved this.” He was speaking more quietly now. “Instead he’s got to enjoy himself molesting white collar criminals in a federal penitentiary.” 

“Thanks for sharing. Anything else?” Michael said, clearly choosing not to respond. Ada bit back the urge to ask who Brad was, because she knew it sounded as if she would be opening a whole can of worms, instead she just shook her head. 

“Good. Then let’s change and get out of here.” He said, turning to the various piles of black clothes.

“I’ll go to the roof, give you boys some privacy.” Ada stood, pulling her phone. 

“Hey, _I’m_ not shy sweetheart. Don’t know about this pudgy bastard,” He pointed at Michael, approaching her again, as she left through the door, “But _I_ am proud of my body.” 

“Good for you.” She said, aware of him following closely behind her as she headed through the building. 

“Don’t _you_ need to change?” He asked, and she could feel his breath blow across the top of her head and his body heat at her back. “I could uh, keep watch for you. Make sure none of those perverts in the other room try to sneak a peak.”

_‘Tall men hovering over me are the bane of my fucking life.’  
_ _  
“_ I actually don’t need to change, being the getaway and all.” She stepped out of the door to the roof, glad for the fresh air. “But I sure do appreciate your concern.” 

Turning back to him, she lifted her chin to look him in the face. He was looking down at her with and expression she couldn’t place, serious and intense but… flirtatious? Horny?

“Why are you tailgating me, bud?” She asked. “Aren’t you supposed to be getting dressed?”  
  
“Can’t a guy walk a girl out?” He asked innocently. “A very cute, doe-eyed, blonde haired mystery of a girl…” He trailed off. The guy was all hips, even when he was talking, swaying from foot to foot, leaning back to survey her again. 

She chuckled a little bit, which made him frown.

“A guy can, and a guy has. I thank you.” She nodded, slipping her hands back in her pockets. Trevor narrowed his eyes at her.

“Are you mocking me, sweetheart?” He asked, his voice in that low register again. “That wouldn’t be very nice of you on our first meeting.” 

“Not mocking,” she put her hand on his upper arm and squeezed, which he reflexively tensed and looked at, absolutely not expecting physical contact, “I’m sorry if it came across that way, sweetheart.” Her voice was pleasant, and she beamed up at him. 

The look of utter confusion on his face almost made her break into a full on grin, but she held off, for a moment, she thought he was going to yell at her, he opened his mouth a couple of times, but was silent for a good few seconds. She raised her eyebrows like she was waiting for him to speak, but he just abruptly turned on his heel and headed back inside.

Ada shook her head and smiled to herself; she was surprised that had been enough to back him off. 

_‘They either want you to giggle and bite your lip, or cower and blush. Throws them off when you turn it right back on ‘em.’_ The voice in her head this time was her mother’s not her own.

Ada stayed on the roof for a few minutes, watching a few distant coyotes and busted old trucks ramble by, and mentally lamenting, as always, the lack of dope in her pocket. If anything was best to keep her calm before a big job, it was that. 

Michael’s professionalism and Franklin’s easy manner helped any nerves from creeping in, because they always somewhat did. She’d always thought they were necessary to keep a person from being too reckless. She was glad that Michael had called shotgun and Trevor was in the back though, even though she had been able to back him down before, Michael seemed eager to keep the man calm and on a level. 

They were sharing stories about their first jobs, and she vaguely listened as she drove them to Paleto, taking particular care of her driving as not to attract unwanted attention before they even arrived. Trevor seemed to normalise as the conversation went on, but she kept catching him looking at her in the rearview mirror.

“How about you, huh? Awful quiet up there. What was your first score, beautiful?” He asked suddenly, tapping the back of her chair and making her pay attention.

“Ugh, I don’t remember.” She said absentmindedly, squinting at a road sign, and pointedly ignoring the term of endearment. 

“Man, bullshit,” Franklin piped up, “I told my embarrassin’ ass story, your turn.” 

“Exactly, your turn.” Trevor agreed loudly. “You want on more jobs, you’ve got to _bond_ with us, we’ve got to be like _brothers_ to you. Or cousins,” he rambled, “ _Second_ cousins! So our children won’t have webbed fingers or any of that shit…”

Ada ignored his comment about ‘their’ children and sighed, running a hand through her hair. 

“Okay, I guess my first job was a drug store in Longmont. We knew they were getting this big truckload of codeine tablets and we could grab the driver between the van and the door take the truck, knock him out and no one would know it was gone before we’d got it back the the clubhouse and chop shopped the van.” She said, remembering it better than she thought. 

“It all go to plan?” Michael asked.

“Kinda, except the driver had a pal with him, who pulled a piece as soon as I opened the door.” She said, laughing a bit.

“So, what did you do?” Franklin asked.

“Capped him in the shin, I’m sure he was up on the leg in a few weeks.” She shrugged. 

“Why didn't you just ice him? He could have ID’d you.” Michael asked, and she didn’t comment on the callousness. 

“I was 17, I tried to avoid that when I could.” She turned towards Paleto Bay.

“Jesus Christ, 17? You _are_ a hustler.” Franklin said with surprise.

“So that’s what? Ten years in the game?” Michael confirmed.

“Uh-huh, give or take.” She didn’t elaborate on her time off. Turning into the empty parking space by the dock. “Here we are.” Unbuckling her seatbelt, she reached in her bag and pulled out her laptop and glasses box, “Okay, I’m really not gonna be able to get you a lot of time on this system, but you already knew that. But even thirty seconds is enough to get a lot done.”

The men listened as she put on her glasses and opened the lid.

“I’ll be waiting in the boat. Good luck boys.” She said, sending them a smile back as she began to try and access the system while they made their way over. Trevor’s eyes lingered on her glasses for a second, then on her mouth, and she shuddered a bit when he got out of the car.

_‘What a fuckin’ oddball.’_

Lester hadn’t been wrong when he explained the security system, the thing was incredibly hard to crack, and she had been about right when she said they would only get around thirty seconds. She kept glancing up from the front seat of the car at the back of the bank, waiting for the sound of the alarm.

Once she had done all she could do, she closed the laptop and slung it back in her bag. Straightening her jacket to leave the car to head for the boat and letting out a long breath. The controls looked relatively simple, but the wobbling on the water was making her feel kind of nauseous. She found herself tapping her foot as she began to hear the alarm system, and quickly afterwards the sound of approaching sirens.   
  
She switched on her earpiece and listened to the sound of the men yelling, and the noise of gunfire. 

_‘Okay, way, way more sirens than we expected.’_

The first few cop cars made her worry, as several cop cars flew by where she was parked, she knew that she had to move. This response was completely out of proportion with what they were expecting.  
  
She watched for a moment, listening to the gunfire, and eventually explosions, before knowing they weren’t going to be getting to her this way. 

“Oh fuck it… M, F, T!” She pressed her earpiece as she jumped onto the dock and ran for her car. “I’m gonna get to you, just keep moving!”

Jumping in the front seat, she just heard more shots and yelling. 

“Hope your car can take a beating, A!” Michael’s voice said back. “We gotta change the plan!”

“Head for open space, I can follow the noise, there’s a cargo train nearby I can get us to!” She set off, tires screeching as she sped out of the car park and got onto the road, flooring it as soon as she could. Above, she could see a police helicopter make it’s way closer, and lower.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck.” She sang out loud. Things continued to get worse when a few yards ahead, she could see a police roadblock that there was no getting around. “Fuck me.” Thinking quick, Ada looked left and saw a gap between the houses and yards, she turned sharply over the lawns and made her way through. 

Her body bounced uncomfortably as she made her way across the uneven terrain, and she gripped the steering wheel tight. The cops would be on her now,her approach in avoiding the roadblock hadn’t exactly been subtle. Once she was back on the road, she one handedly pulled her shotgun out of her bag. 

It turned out to be necessary, a police car chased her and began firing shots into the back window, the first three cracking it and the third shattering it completely.

“My new fucking truck.” She seethed between her teeth, watching in the rearview as it pulled up beside her close enough for her to see the cop pointing his pistol towards her. Looking at the road ahead and then back to him quickly, she rested the shotgun on the window frame and fired, getting him in the shoulder, and hearing his yell as the car swerved off.

Sweating, she leaned forward in the seat to look directly up through the windshield. The chopper was hovering and someone was firing out: that was where they were. 

Taking another sharp turn, she crashed through a wooden fence, feeling the wood crunch under the wheels. As she got to the noise, she began to see the various men firing on each other, including her heavily armoured comrades. 

_‘Okay, just drive into the middle of the firefight, no big deal. No big deal.’_

Swearing again, Ada moved her Jeep to the middle of the fairly open space where the cops were being relentlessly fired on by Michael, Trevor and Franklin.

She caught Franklin’s eyes through the mask first, and waved at him.

Pressing her earpiece she yelled out of her broken window at the same time. “GET THE FUCK IN!”

“Ay! It’s her! Get in the car!” Franklin rushed forwards as best they could and the other two followed after dispatching a couple more men. 

The car shifted with their weight and the thump of the mini gun being dumped on the floor, and as soon as the doors closed she floored it again, not noticing she was panting until she realised the other three were too. 

“Put your fucking foot down!” Trevor yelled too close to her ear, making her jump.

“It’s fucking down for Christ’s sake!” She yelled back, glancing quickly in the rearview at his sweaty face behind the visor. That armour clearly had its pitfalls. “I’m heading for the chicken factory, the train passes through the back, we should be able to jump on a freighter and get the fuck out of town.”

“Did you see that military chopper? Dudes was bringing a goddamn _tank_ for us!” Franklin said.

“We don’t have time to talk about that now. They’re still on our asses.” Michael said, letting out a breath. 

She pulled in at the big open entryway to the factory and slung her bag on her back before bailing out of the car with the rest of them.

The ensuing firefight through the factory was bigger than anything she had been involved in for years. Even the club’s worst beefs rarely ended so bloody. She barely heard what Michael would occasionally yell at her, keeping herself behind pillars and boxes and only popping up to let off a well placed shot. They were more reckless than her, but they had body armour on. 

They reached the other side of the factory eventually, by which point she was covered in a sheen of sweat, exhausted, and covered in other people’s blood. 

“I can hear the train!” Michael said as they ran up the ramp to the platform. Indeed, the freight was heading towards them at speed. 

Their distraction meant they didn’t notice the footsteps racing into the room until the person shouted: “They’re in here!” And fired on shot in Ada’s direction, it clipping the wall behind her and making her let out a gasp, ear ringing.

“Fuckin’ pussy!” Trevor screamed with genuine rage, moving to stand in front of her and fire on the man with his AK, more times than was necessary. Ada could only look at his heavily armoured back until the shooting finished, somewhat shocked at how close the bullet had been. “Ugh!” He threw the gun to the ground roughly. “Who fires on the only woman in the room? It’s not sportsmanlike!”

Ada didn’t have time to comment, the train was beginning to pass them by.

“Shit, it’s our only shot, get on!” An empty carriage went passed them, and she jumped on first, the other three close behind. 

The train peeled away, and she knew they had made it. While they whooped and Michael exclaimed: “fuckin-A!” Ada laid on her back and laughed breathlessly at the roof of the carriage, feeling her pulse thump in her neck and the adrenaline making her body buzz. 

It stayed like that for a while, the group getting their breath back and celebrating their win. Michael called the FIB while they stripped off their armour and black clothes, changing into their civilian wear that Ada had in her bag. 

Once the adrenaline had worn off, Ada sat on the edge of the carriage with her legs hanging off the side, enjoying the cold breeze and the satisfaction.

_‘Fuck, I love this, I love this.’_

The journey ended soon enough and they made the hand off with the agent, getting a relatively small cut in return. She wasn’t as displeased as the rest of them, she had been more in it for the ride.

“Okay, who’s riding with who?” Michael asked, clapping his hands together.

“I’m with Ada.” Trevor said immediately, doing that thing where he stood too close behind her again, so she could feel the buckle of his belt in the middle of her back. 

Michael look like he was going to protest for her but she shook her head and put her hand up, stepping away from his body heat.   
  
“Whatever, I just wanna go home and sleep.” She made her way over to the nearby vehicle, a black sedan, and opened the door. “Thanks for job, always appreciative.” 

“You saved our asses today, we’ll be calling you again.” Michael assured her as he got in his own car. 

“I look forward to it.” She grinned, and got in the driver’s seat, Trevor wasting no time with goodbyes as he slipped in beside her. 

Now completely calm, she was crashing from her high of emotions and she felt tired, her eyelids felt heavy, but Trevor was a hard man to truly relax beside. She wouldn’t let him speak first though, he probably had something in mind to try and make her squirm.

“Thanks for having my back with that guy who shot at me. I don’t usually let people get the jump on me.” 

“Guy was a pussy, that’s why he took a shot at _you_ and not _us_.” His leg was bouncing, the man was truly incapable of sitting still. “And I’ll take any opportunity to be your knight in shining armour, sweetheart.”

“Gee, thanks.” She humoured as she pulled of the dirt and onto the road.

“Follow the signs for Sandy Shores.” Trevor told her.

“The trailer park?” She confirmed, a little surprised that someone who was pulling bank jobs couldn’t afford to live in, well, a house.

“Yeah, you got a fuckin’ problem?” He asked, raising his eyebrow at her. Ada was at least glad that he wasn’t yelling, he was definitely being confrontational, but he seemed calm, he spoke in a low register, and almost came off like a real person.

“Nope, just confirming. No need to get defensive.” 

“Y’know Ada, nothing in his world makes a person more defensive than someone _telling_ them not to be defensive.” He said, looking at the side of her face intensely. 

Trevor didn’t expect her to laugh warmly and nod.

“That’s very true, it’s like being told to calm down, when you are calm.” She said, and switched the headlights to a higher beam while the dark road was more quiet. “I pulled a knife on a guy for telling me to calm down once.”

When Trevor was quiet for a second, she looked over at him and found him just looking at her with something akin to contemplation.   
  
“Before… You said clubhouse… I’m assuming you didn’t mean of the Mickey Mouse variety.” He said, and she was taken aback that he had even picked up on it. 

“No, I mean like a biker clubhouse.” She shrugged. “Back home- JESUS!” 

Trevor had grabbed the steering wheel and tugged it harshly to the side, sending them swerving violently onto the dirt at the side of the road. How they had missed the metal barrier was beyond her, she was too shocked to process what had actually happened before the car skidded to the halt. 

“What the fuck is wrong with you!?” She yelled as he got out of the passenger side. He ignored her, and she scrambled out after him, slamming the door. “You could have fucking killed me you asshole!”

“No one told me you were in the Lost MC!” He pointed at her accusatorially, and was lucky there was a few feet between them lest she have swung. 

“The Lost MC?” She spat on the ground reflexively. “Please, I wouldn’t piss on the Lost if they were on fire.” 

“Don’t fuckin’ lie to me.” He warned, walking a bit closer to her.

“I’m not lying, there are other clubs out there dumbass, why the fuck would you assume I was in the Lost?” She became aware of her fingers shaking from the shock of the swerve and her building temper. 

“Because the Lost are the only gang around here!” He kept stepping up in her space, she had to tilt her chin to look up at him. 

“I’m not _from_ around here.” She held out her arm. “Look at my fuckin’ skin, do I look like I grew up in this desert?” He went quiet, staring at her again. “The last time I saw a member of the Lost MC I practically gutted him, and I’ll do the same to you if you ever grab the wheel of a car I’m driving again.” 

Her rational brain would have told her that what she just said may have been too far, this man was definitely liable to pull a gun on her in no time, and she didn’t remotely know him well enough to know if he was capable of worse than that. But as it always did, her anger clouded her rational mind, and she just needed to assert her authority. 

When he almost staggered over to her personal space again, she got ready to swing, and was perhaps more puzzled than she had ever been when he dropped to his knees in front of her heavily and looked up at her.

“I think I love you.” He said, voice a grumble.

Ada put her hands on her forehead and looked up at the sky, as if asking some deity why she had not insisted getting a ride home with Michael.

“Get in the car Trevor, I need to go to fucking bed.” She sighed and opened the passenger door, sliding over to her seat, and glad that he didn’t remotely argue with her as he scrambled in beside her.

“You can stay in my bed if you want, save you the long drive back to Shitsville.” He grinned at her. She pulled back onto the road and put her foot down a little, ready for the night to end. 

“No thanks, I’m kind of a homebody.” She yawned, quickly becoming used to his quick changes of attitude.

“No, no, you’re right.” He said. “Tell me about the Lost you gutted.” Trevor put his elbows on his knees and rested his chin on his hands, like she was about to tell him a bed time story. 

Ada pursed her lips, playfulness wearing off at the thought as she focussed on the road ahead instead.

“Some other time.” 

“Oh you’re no fun.” He sulked, and she turned down the road to Sandy Shores, letting him point her to the trailer, and deciding not to comment on the state of it. “Sure you don’t want to come in for a drink or a huff?”

“I’m sure, but thanks.” She smiled tiredly, and he got out of the car, coming round to the other side to lean down in the passenger window and talk to her.  
  
“I’ve got to tell you something Ada.” He said, his voice once again calm and low. “I know you think I’m a little whacky. But I can already tell that you and me are made for each other. Interconnected on a spiritual level.” Trevor pointed between them.

_‘Is he fucking with me? Is he high? Is he legitimately, truly crazy?’_

“Okay.” She said quietly, searching his eyes for some sense.

Trevor tapped on the car door, and marched back into his trailer, screaming ‘Ron!’ at someone who she couldn’t see. It took a minute for Ada to pull out and get back on the road, not sure if she was weirded out or embarrassingly intrigued.

 


End file.
